The Four Seasons
by Barneswald
Summary: AU Fitzsimmons one-shot. Leo Fitz is a lonely mechanic, but his new neighbor, Jemma Simmons changes everything.


"I hate snow," Fitz sighed, sloshing through mushy, gray snow as he retrieved his newspaper. He dropped it, cursing his greasy hands and wondering just how much motor oil he'd tracked through the snow.

"What a glorious day!" a bright, cheerful voice called out. He jumped, startled at the noise. Nobody talked to anybody in this neighborhood. They were all recluses, and everyone hated his late-night inventions making noise anyway. He stared suspiciously, squinting from the glare on the snow, to see a young woman bundled up in a coat and scarves as she poured birdseed into a feeder.

"Ugh," Fitz grumbled to himself. "Probably thinks she's Snow White or something. I hate new neighbors."

—

"I hate rain," Fitz grumbled to himself, charging out the back door and grabbing up all the spare parts of his machines before they could get completely soaked. His bare feet squished against the grass, the humid spring air frizzing his curls. He could just feel it.

It was just then when he heard delighted laughter. Surprised and somewhat irritated, he glanced over his shoulder to see his new neighbor out… dancing in the rain? Her long hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders, her arms outstretched and eyes tightly closed as she spun around barefoot in the grass.

Fitz nearly opened his mouth to say something, but he found for once that he didn't really have anything to say.

Later that day he was really regretting the fact that he found her attractive, and even more so that his latest invention was completely ruined. "I hate spring and rain and new neighbors," he grumbled vehemently to himself.

—-

"Ugh! I hate summer," Fitz whined, holding his nose with one hand as he pulled the overfilled trash bin out to the sidewalk. He severely regretted his latest obsession with bananas, now that the spoiled ones were rotting in his garbage.

"Good morning!" a cheery voice called out. He whirled around, spilling the trash as she swung back and forth on a brand-new tire swing, her feet bare and her hair back in a loose braid. He could see more of her face now, and part of his brain wanted to see those soft, warm eyes much closer to his face.

"Morning," he replied sullenly, his ears burning with embarrassment as he reached for the banana peels and shoved them back into the bag.

"Do you need help?" she called, jumping off the swing and running to his side.

"No," he muttered. "It's just stupid, clumsy old me."

"Oh no, you can't be clumsy!" she scoffed. "I've seen some of those inventions! You're brilliant! You know, I bet my lab would love to have you!"

"Your lab?" he asked suspiciously, trying to avoid the glow of happiness from eyes. Disgusting. Beautiful.

"Yes! I work in the biochemistry area, but with your skill you'd excel in engineering!" the neighbor chirped happily.

"Sure," Fitz sighed hopelessly. "I'm really not that good. My dad…." He trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. "It doesn't matter."

"I don't care what your dad says, you'd make a great engineer!" the neighbor insisted. She picked up a banana peel, dropped it into the trash, and smiled brightly at him. "Let me know if you're interested!" She ran back to the swing, waving goodbye.

"It's not the job I'm interested in," Fitz mumbled to himself. He kicked a stray can that had fallen out. "I hate summer. And new neighbors. And bananas. I want a monkey. Monkeys would help me forget."

—

"Curse you, and your bright blue skies and your crisp autumn air and your rosy apples and colorful leaves!" Fitz howled at the sky as he desperately attempted to salvage a machine that he'd forgotten overnight, only to discover it covered in wet, mulch-like leaves the next morning.

The door of The Neighbor's house swung open, and she popped out, clad in bright yellow boots and clutching a large rake. "Isn't autumn glorious?" she called across the yard. Fitz suddenly became aware of a large clump of leaves hanging from his hair.

"Terrific," he replied dryly, although suddenly he didn't mind autumn so much.

Later that day, he'd put on nicer clothes for no particular reason unless you know The Neighbor happened to see him and wandered outside with a rake. His yard did need raking, after all.

He didn't get much raking done, honestly. There were distractions, though. For example, the breeze blew all of his leaves away once. He had to stop and get a drink and wonder if he should offer some apple cider to her, too. He had to watch The Neighbor and make sure he was raking his yard faster, although he wasn't sure why. Every time he glanced over there he got distracted because he couldn't figure out why the soft brown of her hair was more beautiful than the deep crimson and bright yellow and flashy orange of the leaves.

Suddenly, she paused. Dropping her rake, she bit her lip, bobbing excitedly on her toes for a minute before taking a running leap at her leaf pile and jumping in. She emerged with a splash of leaves, leaves in her hair and sprinkling down around her. Fitz gaped at her.

"You should come join! I used to do it with my mum all the time!" she called happily, waving at him.

Leo Fitz had made many rash decisions in his life. He had a whole garage of failed inventions to prove it. But the best rash decision of his life was when he ran towards that leaf pile and jumped in. "Hi," he said awkwardly, leaves tangled in his curls.

"You never told me your name," The Neighbor chided him.

"Leo Fitz," he stuttered, his face growing hot even in the cool breeze.

"Jemma Simmons," she replied, beaming at him. She laid back in the pile of leaves, squinting up at the autumn sky. "Don't you just love autumn?"

He smiled down at her awkwardly, memorizing the smile on her face and the delight in her eyes as she lay on her bed of leaves and grass. "It's my favorite season," he admitted softly.


End file.
